Sniper's Eye
by Futomaki
Summary: Seizumi Miyamoto is the newest member of MON, hired by Smith due to the increase in human-liminal crime. His only problem is his inability to properly use a sniper rifle. Given the task of mentoring Seizumi, can Manako succeed in teaching a human how to snipe, while at the same time overcome her own personal barriers? Oh, and let's not forget Kimihito's cousin and his problem...
1. The Surprise

-Manako's POV-

The first thing I ever notice when trying to converse with humans is... w-well, they almost never look me in the eye when they talk to me. I really wish they weren't so disgusted and perterbed at the ungodly sight of my eye.

There's probably a whole bunch of other littl-

"Mana, c'mon! We're here!"

As I stared out the window of the van we were riding in, Bina tapped me on the shoulder, startling me and causing me to jump and hit my head off the ceiling.

"Ouch..." I unbuckled my seatbelt and rubbed the top of my head, wincing from the pain.

"Aw, jeez, sorry. Forgot that yer jumpy," Bina opened the door to the van, motioning for me to follow. "Tio, Doppel, and Kuroko are already inside. You were spaced out, so they decided not ta bother ya. I stayed 'cause I knew you'd never snap outta it if I didn't."

"Ehehe... s-sorry about that." I smiled a bit as I stepped out of the van, which was in front of Kimihito Kurusu's house.

"Kuroko says she's got a surprise for us... but damn, do I hate surprises..." Bina mumbled to nobody in particular. "Oh, and didja hear about Loverboy's cousin moving' in with him? Said his house burnt down in some mysterious fire."

"Huh... I haven't heard about that, Bina." I replied, walking alongside her to the front door.

"Yep. I guess it just happened 'bout a week ago, so the poor kid hightailed his ass over here and asked to move in until he could get enough cash to buy a new house."

"S-So that's not the surprise, then?"

"Nope!" Bina opened the front door. "Yo, Loverboy, me and Manako are here!"

"Oh, hello you two," Kurusu waved from the hallway. "Glad to see you in one piece."

Bina laughed for a few seconds before walking inside with me in tow.

"Excuse us..." I muttered quietly as I shut the door behind me.

"Where ya headin'? Looks like you're fixin' ta go somewhere."

"I'm going to take Miia, Cerea, and Rachnee somewhere for a while. Ms. Smith gave me the idea."

Of course she did...

"Well, ya have fun! Tell us all 'bout it later!" Bina winked.

With that, Kurusu walked straight past us and made his way outside.

"Right, I'm gonna look for that cuz of Loverboy's..."

As Bina was getting ready to walk further inside, we both saw Doppel approaching us.

"It's about time, you two," Doppel grumbled as she looked at me, then Bina, who was glancing left and right. "What are you doing?"

"Lookin' for that cousin of Loverboy's."

"I'm thinking that you shouldn't bother, because he's clearly not looking for you."

"Very funny," Bina rolled her eyes. "I bet he's playin' games with Papi and the slime."

"If that's what you think, go look for yourself, or maybe you can take my advice and don't." Doppel grinned.

Bina decided not to argue with Doppel any longer and took matters into her own hands, walking off to the living room.

"W-Where's Tio at?" I asked, praying that she wouldn't make a snarky remark.

"Eating potato chips from the local food pantry," She stopped grinning, seeing as I refused to move from my spot until I got a proper answer. "She's watching Papi, Suu, and that kid play those stupid video games."

"Thank you, Doppel." I said, taking the same route that Bina took.

I peeked to my left and there Tio was, devouring Kurusu's potato chips on the couch. She looked over at me and waved me over.

"Hi, Mana! Want some chips?" I sat down beside her as she thrusted the chip bag towards me, unto which I shook my head.

"No thank you," Turning my head towards the television, I saw Papi, Suu, and Kurusu's cousin (supposedly) playing _Wii Sports_.

"Suit yourself. You don't know what you're missing!" Tio began stuffing her face again.

Say, if Kurusu's cousin is right there...

...where's Bina?

"Wow, you're really good at this game, Papi!" Kurusu's cousin looked at Papi wide-eyed, practically gawking at her. "How did you become so good in just a few days?"

"Papi's really good 'cause Papi's been practicing!" Papi struck a pose after she hit a home run on the baseball portion of the game. "One day, Mayo will be just as good as Papi!"

"Uh, that's Miyo, not Mayo..." Miyo rubbed the back of his head. "And I used to be better than-"

"Aw, man, Suu was pitching the ball behind Mayo's back!" Papi pouted a bit, pointing her Wii remote at Suu. "That's cheating, Suu!"

"Oh, she's such a birdbrain..." Miyo shook his head.

"Come here, Suu! Tell Papi and Mayo you're sorry!" Papi hurled herself at Sue, who in turn began to run away.

Suu's giggle was audible from practically anywhere in the house (even the bathroom!) as Papi chased her around the house.

"Wow, imagine if we did that on our missions!" Tio spoke up, wearing her ever-cheeky smile.

"Um..." I glanced up at the TV, where Miyo was grumbling to himself about how 'this happens every time we play this game...'. "Which part?"

"Running around like idiots, duh!"

"We'd end up dead, Tio!" I looked at her. "I wouldn't want to die!"

"That's easy for you to say," She looked down at the empty bag of chips. "because you're always so far away from the action."

"P-Please don't bring that up..."

In reality, I'm always positioned quite a distance from the mission sight. I don't know whether it's because I'm an adequate sniper or if they don't want me to be with everyone else, but, well... I wish I was closer sometimes. During our last big mission, I was positioned atop a building two kilometers away, not to mention my eye dried out fairly quickly... it wasn't very pleasant, to say the least.

"Ah, right. Sorry, Mana..." Tio quickly changed the subject. "Say, did you-"

"Hey, GUYS! Smith wants us ta meet some guy in the other room," Bina nearly made me fall out of my seat as she approached the back of the couch. "Says it's for business and not for personal reasons, so it's pretty important."

"U-U-Uh, okay..." I stood up, still a bit shaky from the sudden appearance of Bina.

"Oh, I had no idea you guys were behind us the entire time!" The man named Miyo turned around, looking at the three of us. "I'm Kimihito's cousin, Miyo Ayase. Pleasure to meet the three of you."

"Hi, I'm Tionishia, but you can just call me Tio!" Tio stood up, towering over Miyo.

"U-Uh..." He looked up at her, a bit taken back at her massive height.

"Ah, forget about Tio. I'm Zombina, and if ya haven't already guessed," Bina teased Miyo while pulling her hand off, "I'm a zombie."

"Man, how many girls does Kimohito know..." Miyo sighed, then looked over in my general direction.

"U-Um... I'm Manako..." I said, probably a bit too quiet.

"Neat-o." He gave me a thumbs-up. "So, you guys can go ahead and-"

"MAYO, WATCH OUT!" Papi yelled, frantically trying to stop herself from running into Miyo by digging her talons into the carpet.

"Wha-" Before he could finish his statement, Miyo was met full-on by a set of harpy wings colliding into his face. He began spitting feathers out of his mouth soon after the collision.

"Suu, look what you made me do!" Papi harped.

"Suu didn't mean it..." Suu sniffled.

"Okay, let's just go. Kuroko's gonna be pissed if we stall any longer." Bina began walking, and me and Tio followed suit.

I wonder if they'll be okay...

* * *

"You're late.~"

Doppel met us at the doorway, grinning ear to ear.

"Oh, shaddup. We're here, aren't we?" Bina moved Doppel out of the way and sat down in one of the chairs. "Yo, Kuroko. Haven't seen ya since the car ride."

"Hello, you three. Glad to see you're accounted for," Smith looked at me and Tio. "You know there's room in here for the _both_ of you."

"Y-Y-Yeah..." I said, walking into the room and sitting down by Zombina.

"Oh, I sure do hope so..." Tio ducked her head under the doorway and entered the room, almost scraping her horn off the trim.

"So these are the girls?"

A gruff voice spoke out from the other side of the room. His raven-black hair looked a bit unkempt, but I suppose it suited him. Outling his hazel eyes were a pair of bifocals; it looks like he was reading something before we came in. He wore a white short-sleeved button up with a pair of khakis to complete his outfit. I bet Tio's mentally 'having a cow' right now because of his taste- or rather, distaste- for fashion.

"Yes," Smith looked back at the man, who began to fidget slightly. "these are the four girls you'll be working with from now on."

"Now wait just a damn minute!" Doppel squinted her eyes at Smith. "This was the stupid _surprise_ you were talking about?"

"Of course it is!" Smith grinned from ear to ear.

...I can't really say that I'm surprised, because she does this all the time...

"I don't have a problem with it," Tio said, still standing up on account for the lack of proper seating. "I would've liked it better if you told us beforehand instead of making it a surprise, though."

"Poor plannin' on your part, Kuroko." Bina rolled her eyes.

"I-I agree with Bina and Tio. Um... maybe you should have told us earlier?" I was a little uncertain, so I hesitated a bit before continuing. "I mean...!"

"Woah. Chill, Mana." Bina put a hand on my shoulder.

"You don't have to blame Ms. Smith. Really, it was my fault you guys didn't know... I just finished all the paperwork today." The man rubbed the back of his head, taking the opportunity to take his bifocals off and place them in his pocket.

"So it was _your_ fault." Doppel hissed.

"Alright, settle down, Doppel," Smith stood up and gestured for the man to stand beside her. "I'll let him introduce himself."

The man adjusted his posture before speaking.

"Uh, hi. My name is Seizumi Miyamoto," He paused, looking around the room at all of us. "and I'm the newest member of MON."

He bowed for emphasis. Honestly, he has...

"I-I hope we can accomplish much together!"

...quite a choice of words. Whether it was because of his nervous demeanor or if it was just his normal speaking pattern, he made almost no sense.

"So, Seizumi," Smith cut my thought off midway. "I'll let the girls introduce themselves to you."

"Right..." Seizumi (which was really fun to say) sat down in the seat where Smith was sitting before.

"I'll go first!" Bina was the one to raise her hand... well, her left hand was still detached, so she was technically raising both her hands at the same time. "I'm Zombina! I'll be yer captain from now on." Before she continued, she slammed her hand(s) down on the table separating us from him. "I don't wanna see no slackin', got it?"

"Y-Yes'm." He looked down, not expecting Bina's sudden outburst.

"Ya don't hav'ta be so stiff, Seizumi. Just jokin' around with ya," Bina took her hand(s) off the table. "Try crackin' a joke. I won't bite... unless ya want me to." She winked at Seizumi, which made him blush. He cleared his throat before talking.

"...jokes can be pretty _handy_ in the most awkward of situations. So, uh... do you need a _hand_? It looks like you're missing one."

Silence. Pure silence. I looked at Tio, who looked at me and couldn't help but giggle.

"Was it funny?" Seizumi asked Tio, whose giggles escalated to laughter.

"Of course it was! And I thought Bina was funny... you're, like, on a whole other level!"

"Hey! I'm way more hilarious than him!" Bina spat. Instead of continuing her rant, she chuckled a bit. "I'll admit, though, that was pretty smooth."

"I guess since I spoke up, I'll introduce myself next!" Tio looked at Seizumi and bowed, I guess to return the gesture. After she rose back up, she spoke. "My name's Tionishia, but you can call me Tio since my name is a mouthful."

"I'm guessing... ah, you're an ogre, right?" Seizumi inquired. He looked sure of himself, and if Tio's surprised expression didn't spell out her answer... I don't know what would.

"Yeah, I am!" I could see her putting more effort into her smile.

"I guess those hours of reading weren't for nothing." He smiled to himself.

"Guess _I'll_ go next," Doppel grumbled. "Doppel. I don't need to explain myself to you."

I could sense Doppel had a bad aura about her today, and I guess Seizumi could too. He decided not to press her for answers to any of his questions and moved on to me... w-wait, me?!

I looked him in the eyes, and he... he was looking me in the eye. He wasn't afraid, or disgusted, but he was genuinely curious.

"U-Um, I'm Manako..." Immediately after I said that, I looked averted my eye away from him.

"So you're Manako..."

"Y-Yes...?"

There was a small pause before he continued.

"I-I look forward to your mentoring, Manako!"

I looked back at him. He acted like he didn't say anything wrong, but I'd never heard anything about... uh, mentoring. What kind of mentoring was he talking about?

"Oops, I forgot to mention that part..." Smith coughed to get my attention. "Manako, Seizumi is an aspiring sniper. Despite your... obvious difference, I believe you would be able to mentor him to some degree."

"E-Eh?!" By this point, I could feel the heat rise in my cheeks.

"Man, Kuroko, yer outta it today," Bina sighed. "This is what ya shouldn't have forgot about, of all things!"

"My bad." Smith merely laughed at her mistake.

"This ain't somethin' ya can laugh about! Mana hasn't even said that she'd do it!"

"...alright, then I'll ask you properly, Manako," Smith leaned forward on the table. "Would you be willing to help dear Seizumi out and mentor him?"

There was a part of me that wanted to say no, in fear of him being like everyone else... but yet there was a feeling in my gut that wanted to say yes, b-because... I don't know why.

"I... I don't think I can make a decision today. I-I need time to think..." I looked over at Smith, then Seizumi. I did need time to think. I needed time to soak in all this information. "...but I can give you an answer by tomorrow."

"That's fine, Manako," Smith nodded. "I think we all need time to process today."

"Yeah. I know I do," Tio was the first to confess. "But everything will be fine by tomorrow!"

"I agree with Tio. Everything'll be a-okay!" Bina flashed a smile, teeth and all.

"I don't need time to process _anything,_ " Doppel rolled her eyes. "This whole meeting was stupid."

"I can't really help how you feel about all this," Seizumi spoke, his tone crisp. "but please don't think that-"

"Just quit talking, _kid_."

I don't know if it was the way he was spoken to, but Seizumi went mute after Doppel's reply.

"Doppel, quit being a meanie..." Tio was a bit angry; I could tell because her cheeks were puffed out. Her next statement completely contradicted her usual bubbly personality. "He's trying to be nice to you, and you keep being so mean to him! He's one of _us_ now, so quit acting that way!"

"One of us... one of _us_?! Just cause Smith said some shit doesn't mean he's one of us! He's completely different than each and every one of us, and you know that's the damn truth!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not arguing with you about this. Doppel, just because he's a _human_ and a _boy_ doesn't mean he isn't one of us _monster_ _girls_."

"T-Tio, Doppel... please stop fighting..." I looked around the room, and saw that nobody else was going to speak up. "It's just pointless bickering. I think we need to go h-"

"Hi, everyone! Papi came here to say that Boss made dinner, and it's ready!" Thank goodness that Papi showed up before things got way out of hand.

"Ah, good! I'm famished!~" Tio made a complete one-eighty turn around from just a few seconds ago, rubbing the back of her head as her stomach growled like a mighty beast.

"M-Maybe this will be a good time to relax." Suddenly, I felt a groan coming from my stomach. Tio looked at me a bit wide-eyed. I blushed, embarrassed at the sound of my own stomach growling. "Ehehehe... looks like I'm hungry, too."

"Wow, Mana! Your stomach has **never** growled like that before!"

"There's always a first time for everything."

I hope Doppel paid attention to what I said.

* * *

~Tio's POV~

"Hey, girls," Boyfriend smiled. "Dinner's in the kitchen. Help yourselves."

"Thanks, Loverboy! Don't mind if I do!" Bina eagerly made her way to the kitchen.

"Thanks, Boyfriend!~" I followed Bina into the kitchen, where a nice variety of food was place on the countertops, ranging from ingredients to make a salad to a nice meat platter... I didn't know what to get! It all looked so good... it made my mouth water at the heavenly sight!

Oh, and did I mention dessert?

"Whatcha gonna get, Tio? I think I'm gonna get me some steak... haven't had good shit like Loverboy's cooking in a while."

I looked over at Bina with a smile on my face.

"Everything, duh! You know me..." And I knew me, too. I overindulge way too much... but I can't help it!

"Hey, listen at Seizumi and Loverboy."

"Huh?"

"Just do it!"

I took a minute to listen to the conversation between the two of them.

"You know you can eat too, Sei." Boyfriend felt bad for some reason... I wonder why? He rubbed the back of his head as he spoke to Seizumi.

"I don't want to impose, Kimihito. You look like you have a houseful as it is..." Seizumi shook his head. "It looks like the girls are taking most of the food, anyways. What about you; what will you eat?"

"It's no problem, really! I already ate, so please, enjoy yourself! I wouldn't want all of this to go to waste." Typical Boyfriend... always so nice!

"Are you-"

"I am _positive_."

"Then I suppose I could take you up on the offer..." Seizumi gazed into the kitchen and looked at me and Bina. "I'll wait until Tio and Zombina get their food first."

Aw, isn't he just a gentleman?

"Hey, Bina-" I turned to my right to see that she had already gotten her food while I was caught up in my thoughts. "...well, never mind."

I took at least one of every appetizer, two steaks, and I also made sure to fix a salad big enough for... well, myself! Boyfriend conviently set up a huge table in the middle of the room to fit all of us, plus extras (like Seizumi and Miyo). I took a seat next to Mana, who looked quite stressed out over everything that's happened today.

"Hey, Mana. Try not to think about it right now, 'kay?" I rubbed the top of her head. "You haven't ate a bite! Come on, let's eat!"

"O-Okay..." Mana stared at her salad for a few seconds before lifting her fork to take a bite. "Um... Tio, I forgot to put ranch dressing on my salad. C-Can you go get the bottle from the countertop?"

"Sure thing. Make sure nobody eats my food, Mana."

"You can count on me." She smiled.

"Wish me luck!" I stood up and pushed my chair in, going back to the kitchen for the ranch dressing. Seizumi was still deciding what he wanted to eat.

"Is it really that hard to decide, Seizumi?" I looked down at him from above. He looked up at me with a smile.

"Yeah, it is. Guess it's hard to choose between so many things."

"Not for me! I just get a bit of everything," I pointed over to my seat at the table as I picked up the bottle of ranch. "When you decide, you're more than welcome to sit near me and Mana, Seizumi."

"...I might just take you up on that offer." Seizumi grabbed a bowl and dumped some of the lettuce into it. "Looks like you have the ranch, so I have to follow you anyways if I want to use it."

I found myself giggling at him.

"Really, you could just _ask_ for it."

"Nah. I'll just take it when we get to the table," He flipped his hand nonchalantly. "And really, if Seizumi is a _mouthful_ _for_ _you_ , I could care less if you just called me something shorter."

"So then Sei?" I asked.

"Yeah, Sei. It's kind of like shortening your name, Tio, cause I know that _Ti_ - _on_ - _i_ - _shi_ - _a_ is a mouthful for me."

"Jeez, that's some way to sound out my name, _Sei_." I began walking back to the table with Sei following me.

"Took you long enough... my salad is getting dry." Mana whined a bit when I placed the dressing in front of her. "T-Thanks."

"I'll need that when you're done, Manako." Sei spoke up, causing Manako to jump. I bet she would set the world record for the most jump scares in a day...

"O-O-Oh, hello, Seizumi..." She said as she poured the dressing on her salad. When she was done, Manako leaned over the tabled to hand the bottle over to Sei.

Little did she remember, well... she forgot to put the lid on the ranch. Ranch came pouring out the other end onto Sei's clothes (good riddance; he had no taste in fashion!). Oops, did I say that?

"I'm so sorry!" Mana instantaneously dropped the bottle onto the table in front of Sei after she witnessed what happened. "I feel so dumb... I always mess up everything!"

"It's okay... really, it's fine. These are _old_ clothes." Sei wiped the majority of the ranch off his pants with a napkin.

"Those are _my_ old clothes, thank you very much!" I heard Miyo speak up from the other end of the table.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Here, I can throw your clothes in the washer," Boyfriend was sitting beside Miyo, who overheard the conversation. "I have some spare clothes you can put on until they dry, too."

"God, you're a lifesaver, Kimihito," Sei got up and took a peek at Mana, who was on the verge of tears. "Don't worry about it, Manako. Clothes are replaceable."

She looked up at him, her bangs covering her eye.

"B-But-"

Sei walked away before Mana could respond. That was probably for the best.

"Now he probably hates me even _more_..." Mana began to tear up.

"Who says he hates you, Mana?" I watched Boyfriend get up and follow Sei, both of them turning the corner to the bathroom.

"E-Everyone always does when they first see me," She used her napkin to wipe the short spurt of tears erupting from her eye. "Even-"

"Thats a lie. I didn't hate you when I first saw you."

"... well, that's completely different."

"Why's it any different?" I took a bite of my steak that had been sitting on my plate for a while.

"B-Because... we're not normal, Tio." Mana looked at her salad, still untouched.

I swallowed my bite of steak before responding.

"Who says we aren't? We're just as normal as any other girl in Japan!"

"Maybe..." Mana took a bite of her salad.

"Sorry about the wait," Sei came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt (way better than his last outfit!). "Turns out me and Kimihito wear the same size in clothes."

"Oh, it's no problem!" I gestured for him to sit down.

"Glad to see my salad is still here," He lifted up his fork and dug in as if someone else was going to eat it instead.

"I didn't think about eatin' your salad. I got a taste for meat, not for no vegetables," Bina licked her lips as she sat down beside Sei. In front of her was a plate stacked high with steak.

"So you finally decided to show, Bina," I waved my fork around in the air. "Where did you go?"

"Sat my food down 'n had a good talk with Doppel about what she said to ya. That was uncalled for."

"Say, where is Doppel?" I looked around for get, but she's was nowhere to be found.

"Kuroko's talkin' to her now. Gonna make her apologize for what she said." Bina stabbed her steak with her fork and ate the whole thing in one bite.

"I don't want her to apologize to me if she's not serious about it." Sei picked the bottle of ranch dressing up and poured some on his salad. He put the lid on it and stretched his arm towards me, ranch in hand. "Tio, do you need some?"

"Yeah, I do." I took the bottle from Sei and used in on my own salad.

"Ya might wanna accept her apology, or else she'll get all pissy at ya," Bina ate another whole steak, then continued. "plus, Kuroko won't leave until ya accept it."

"So just accept it? Yeah, sure." Sei took a bite of his salad.

I looked over at Mana, who had been staring straight at Sei during the entire conversation.

"Whatcha doing, Mana?" I poked her on the cheek. No response.

"Hello, girls and Seizumi," Smith sat down at the end of the table, whispering something to Doppel as she floated by. "We'll be leaving in half an hour."

"Aw, half an hour? But I wanted to stay longer!" I put my head on the table.

"We have other priorities, Tio."

"Yeah? Like whaaat?"

"Initiation," Smith used her thumb to gesture to Sei. "For Seizumi."

Well, if Sei was still in his chair she'd be gesturing to him.

"Um... I'll be right back." I stood up, following Doppel, who was forcibly dragging Seizumi out of the room and into the hallway by the back of his shirt.

I stopped at the corridor and peeked my head around to watch.

"H-Hey! What are you doing?"

Doppel let go of his shirt and crossed her arms.

"I'm only apologizing because Smith told me to. Honestly, I don't give a damn if you accept it or not."

"Then why apologize? Ms. Smith won't know if you did or not since she's not here," Seizumi stood up. "Save your apology for when you actually mean it instead of wasting your breath."

"I knew you'd say that. That's the whole reason why I dragged you out into the hallway," She pointed at him menacingly. "I don't need to apologize to you."

"If that's how you feel, so be it."

"That is how I feel."

"Doppel..." I moved into sight and glared at her.

"O-Oh, Tio... I was just-" Sweat was dropping from Doppel's brow.

"I heard everything, so don't you dare try and lie to my face!"

"Yo, what's goin' on?" Bina was standing behind me. "Doppel, are ya being a bitch again?"

Silence.

"Alright, we're leavin'. C'mon, Tio. Seizumi."

"...sorry."

At the bottom of her throat, Doppel materialized her apology. Whether sincere or not... that was up to Sei to decide. Frankly, that was pretty weak...

"Huh?" Sei looked over at Doppel.

"I said I was sorry. Do I have to repeat myself?"

"...no. That's fine, and I accept your apology."

I saw a smile creep its way onto Doppel's face, which wasn't too uncommon.

"...Ya know I was bein' serious. Kuroko says it's time ta go." Bina put her hands on her hips.

"I see you have your hand back." Sei smiled.

"Yep. Had ta get it sewn back on by Loverboy. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself..." She repeatedly flexed her hand in and out of a fist.

The two of them carried on a conversation on the way out to the van, where they both sat towards the front.

"Say, Mana, do you think it'll be hard to make your descision?" I sat down in the back of the van so that I had enough room.

"Um... maybe? I haven't really thought about it since earlier." Mana looked a bit flustered. "I've never taught anyone how to do something before..."

"It'll be a piece of cake, especially since you know so much about sniping!"

"I-If you say so, Tio..." Mana closed her eye and sighed.

"Alright, first thing in the morning, I want all of you in my office," Smith looked back at us in the passenger's seat. "Manako, I expect you to have an answer by then."

Mana nodded, her eye still closed.

"If things go as planned," Smith pushed up her sunglasses, smiling. "we'll get some free time."

"Hell yeah! Free time!" Bina smacked the ceiling of the van.

"You're getting a bit violent, Zombina..." Sei said.

"And on that note, we're at the complex," Smith pointed outside to the apartment complex that we all stayed in. "Don't stay up too late, girls. Seizumi, too."

"I doubt I can..." I covered my mouth as I failed to suppress a yawn.

"Yeah, I'm sleeping on it." Doppel opened the door and slipped outside. "Night."

"C'mon, Sei, I'll show ya to your room," Bina must have gotten the same talk from Sei. Both of them stepped out of the van. "G'night, Tio."

"Night!~" I leaned over the seat and poked Mana's cheek. She must have fallen asleep since she didn't look at me. I giggled, unbuckled her, and cradled her in my arms like a baby (since that really was the size difference between us. I somehow managed to get out of the van with her in my arms.

"You're so hopeless, Mana..."

* * *

So... yeah.

If you haven't read any of my other fanfictions, then you have no idea the change of pace this is for me.

I tried (to the best of my ability) to portray the girls to the best of my knowledge, and I know I probably screwed up a few places here and there.

So, here's to Monster Musume and my new fanfiction!

-Author


	2. The First Morning

|Seizumi's POV|

I woke up in a bed all too unfamiliar to me... oh, that's right. I have to live in an apartment complex since I joined MON.

Leaning up, I looked at the alarm clock sitting on the side table that has neglected to go off. No wonder it didn't; it's only seven o'clock. Although if I think about it... don't "bosses" enjoy seeing their "employees" at their shift early? _Probably just a hunch..._ I made sure to turn off the alarm so that it didn't go off while I was out of the room.

"So, what's in my closet?" I never really had time to unpack any of my- ahem, Miyo's- clothes, but I was told by Zombina that there were clothes already in my closet.

Sliding open the closet, the first articles of clothing I saw were... suits. Uniform-issued suits that I probably needed to wear on days like these. Yesterday, Tio gave me one hell of a stare when she first met me, and I don't think it was because I looked suave.

Yeah, I should probably wear a suit.

"Does it matter which suit I wear, I wonder?" I carefully slipped one of the suit jackets off the hangar and slipped it on. It was a perfect fit. Knowing someone like Smith, she probably took my measurements while I wasn't paying attention.

I took the suit jacket off and sat it on the bed, then taking the white dress shirt off the hangar. Obviously the tie, pants, socks, and shoes to complete the uniform were not hanging up in my closet. I saw the uniform-issued shoes were beside the door, so maybe the rest of the uniform was in the dresser?

And they were, thankfully; black ties and socks were in the top, and pants were in the middle drawer. I took one of each (except the socks; I needed a pair of those) and sat them on my bed.

You'd think that since your living in an apartment, you'd get your own bathroom, right? Well, unfortunately, Zombina told me that I have to share it with everyone else. And it's in the hallway.

I hung the dress shirt and the suit jacket back on the hangar and carried the rest of my things out into the hallway. There was currently nobody but me wandering around, but I did hear a few noises here and there. I figure that someone may or may not be in the bathroom.

Coming at a halt in front of the bathroom, I took a minute to listen for any noise. The faucet was running, and I could hear whoever was in there continually hit something off the vanity. Maybe they were just that clumsy?

A few moments later the door opened to reveal that Manako was in the bathroom. Walking out of the bathroom wearing her uniform-issued suit (I was right to take it with me) and carrying her pajamas, she didn't notice me until she shut the door behind her.

"G'morning, Manako." I raised and lowered my hand as a greeting.

Her eye averted every which way before responding.

"G-Good morning, Seizumi."

Yeah, I can totally see her being the clumsy kind of girl.

"Say, do you remember what time Smith wants us in her office?"

"Um..." Manako looked down, refusing to look at me. Oh, and her bangs conveniently covered her eye. "I-I think she said nine o' clock."

"Really? Well, that's what time I set my alarm for this morning, so that wouldn't have been good if I went by it! Haha..." I watched to see if the expression on Manako's face changed.

It didn't.

"M-Maybe you should pay attention when someone tells you something **important**."

"I was paying attention! I mean, if I was she didn't say it, but remember? Doppel dragged me out in the-"

"Bina never said anything about the time yesterday? Y-You seemed to be having quite the conversation with her..." Finally, she looked back up at me!

"Well, now that you mention it, she started rambling about something deemed **important** before we got in the van last night, but I wasn't paying attention..." I rubbed the back of my head. "Maybe she told me then?"

Manako sighed. She blinked her eye, I guess to see how much moisture was in it, then proceeded to hand me her pajamas (did she not see that my arms weren't free?).

"I knew I forgot to do something... please excuse me."

Manako took out a bottle of eye drops and went back into the bathroom to put them in. She'd neglected to shut the door. I have to admit, watching her put eye drops in her eyes was making my eyes moist, too. It only took Manako a few seconds to apply them before she twisted the cap back on and slipped it back into her pocket. She blinked her eye a few times, wiped any excess drops from around her eye, and came back out.

"T-Thanks for holding my pajamas, Seizumi," A tiny smile formed on her face as she took her pajamas back. "Please don't take long, because this is about the time that Bina and Tio get up to shower, too."

"You can count on me!" I smiled back at her. Her eye widened, and before I could say anything else, she walked away.

"Smooth move, idiot." I mentally smacked myself in the face. "Probably shouldn't have smiled. I bet she's the easily flustered type... wait, what the hell am I babbling about? Gotta take a shower..."

I hung my clothes on the door handle as I shut the door, locking it behind me. I undressed and stepped into the shower. It took me a few seconds to adjust the temperature from freezing cold to just right.

Ten minutes into my godawful singing (because I liked to sing to pass the time), there was a loud knock on the door.

"Sei, please hurry up!" Tio's voice was muffled by the door.

"Just let me dry and put my clothes on!" I turned the water off, immediately grabbing the towel off the rack to dry myself.

"Ugh..." Tio slammed on the door again. "Come. ON! You do not wanna see-"

"I'm almost done!" I began putting all my clothes on in a frenzy; I'm not even sure if I have my pants on the right way. I swiped the towel through my hair one more time before throwing it in the hamper and unlocking the door. Suit coat, tie, and shoes in my arms, I walked out to see a half-asleep Tio leaning on the wall.

"Jeez, what took you so long? You don't have that much hair to wash!" She turned to face me, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward... which was a sight in itself. "It's not nice to keep a lady waiting..."

"S-Sorry! I should have just woke up with the alarm!" I backed up and bowed. "M-Manako said something about you and Zombina getting up at this time, and I went in the shower anyways!"

Tio raided up and looked at me, baffled.

"Huh? Yeah, I do wake up at seven-thirty every morning, but I don't always take a shower immediately after I wake up. Since we have to be in Smith's office by nine, I decided to take one as soon as I got up," She held up her uniform-issued suit. "And you said Mana told you about that? She must've had a bad night if she got up this early..."

"Why would she be up early if she had a bad night? Wouldn't it be the opposite? And really, she didn't look like she had anything on her mind this morning..."

"I-I'm sorry, I can't say anything about that. You'd have to ask her yourself if you want to know," Tio worried a worried look, but immediately masked it with a smile. "I can tell you one thing, though; she's usually a late riser who takes her showers before she goes to bed so she can sleep in."

 _And that information is relevant **how**?_

"Well," I put my suit coat on and attempted to put on my tie. "now that I'm out, you can take a shower."

"Right! Well, see you in a bit, Sei!" Tio walked in the bathroom and shut the door.

I looked down the hallway and saw Zombina walking my way. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of stretchy shorts. The tank top was... a bit too revealing, in my opinion.

"Yo, Sei! You lucky dog, ya got in the shower before me!" Zombina had her arms behind her as she walked a few more steps towards me, coming to a halt inches away. "Lemmie guess, Tio got her ass in there before me?"

"Yeah. I thought she was gonna bust the door down or something, the way she pounded on the door."

"She's got a temper like a bull in tha mornin' if she doesn't get ta do what she was gonna do immediately."

"Mentally noted. I'll remember that the next time she threatens me in the morning," Yeah, definitely noted. I don't want some accident happening when I'm barely awake. "Why didn't you bring your unifo-"

"'Cause I gotta go back to my room anyways," Zombina elbowed me in the shoulder, winking. "Nah, I just forgot. I prob' need to go get it..."

"I think you should. You don't need to be running around naked."

"Oh, damn, you're such a scatterbrain! I'd obviously wrap my towel around me!" She smacked me on the back.

"Ouch, that hurt..." I fidgeted around, still trying to tie the (stupid) tie around my neck.

"Havin' trouble there?" Zombina eyed my hands, which at this point were cramping. "Move your hands and I'll do it."

"I can do it." I moved my hands one more time before pain shot through them. "Oh, GOD THAT HURTS!"

"Stubborn, aren'tcha?" Zombina pushed my arms away and began doing the task herself. "That's not a good trait ta have, Sei. Gotta let people help ya every once in a while." After she was done, she backed away from me. "There. Picture perfect, though I think ya need ta... what's it called? Spruce yerself up a bit."

"I plan on it."

"Good. Better get rollin'; only an hour left 'till we gotta be in Kuroko's office."

Zombina and I went our respective ways.

"That took way longer than I anticipated... oh, and I'm still carrying my shoes."

I put my shoes on the ground and slipped them on (because I'm lazy). While I wasn't paying attention, a certain doppelgänger bumped shoulders with me.

"You should sit down and put your shoes on instead of slipping them on, lazy ass." Doppel rolled her eyes.

"You don't seem to wear clothes, so why should I listen to you?" I replied.

"Too bad. I thought you were smart enough to do something simple."

"I have something to do, and I'd rather not waste my time talking to you." I walked past Doppel, completely ignoring the obscene gesture she gave me as I passed.

Walking back into my room, I looked at the alarm clock to check the time. It was only eight-fifteen, so I should be able to... what did Zombina say? 'Spruce' myself up? I grabbed a bottle of body spray and sprayed it all over my body (use as directed, am I right?).

 _What else? Uh..._ I grabbed my comb out of the drawer and attempted to move my hair to the side. It didn't work. My hair ended back in front of my eyes. What else did Zombina say? _Ask for help?_ Yeah, but who...

Luckily, Tio must've gotten done a few minutes ago, because she walked right past my door.

"WAIT, TIO! I NEED YOU!" I waved my comb in the air as I ran out of my apartment and back into the hallway.

"Aw, you need me?" She turned around and looked at me. "Do you need me to-"

"I need you to fix my hair. Or just do something with it, it's bothering the heck outta me." I handed Tio my comb. She looked at it as if it was a foreign object.

"Is this supposed to be some sort of knock-off hairbrush? It's a little... small."

"... oh, never mind!" I took my comb back and ran down the hallway, towards the girls' apartments. "Sorry, Tio!"

"...What?"

 _Now then..._

I knocked on the door to Manako's (that's what Zombina also told me; she told me a lot of things yesterday, now that I think about it...) apartment. "Uh, Manako? Are you in there?"

I heard something shatter on the ground. A piece of glass flew under the door and hit my shoe.

"Y-Yes?!" Her voice was shaky, so I guess I must've spooked her...

"Can I come in?"

"I just broke a glass cup, s-so it wouldn't be a very good idea..."

"I have shoes." I picked up the piece of glass off the floor.

"Oh, um... come in, then."

I opened the door to see Manako trapped in the middle of the room. She tried her hardest to find a way to maneuver around the glass, but every few steps she took... well, led her right back to the middle of the room.

"Do you have a broom somewhere?"

"In the closet," Her eye darted to the door on my left. "It should be the first thing you see when you open it..."

As I opened the closet, a few things from the top fell down and hit on the floor. Thankfully, none of the items were breakable. I grabbed the broom and a dustpan, shut the door, and began sweeping the glass up.

"So... what do you need, Seizumi?" She watched me pour the glass into a trash can in the kitchen.

"I need you to fix my hair," I took my comb out and showed it to her. "Please tell me you know what this is."

"I'm not stupid. That's a comb."

"Well Tio thought it was the newest version of a hairbrush." I chuckled a bit.

"She can't necessarily _use_ a comb, so she doesn't know what one is..." Manako took my comb and eyed it. "H-How much did you pay for this?"

"Just a couple thousand yen. No biggie." I shrugged, putting my hands in my pocket.

"That's..."

"Expensive. I'll finish that sentence for you, because I _really_ need you to do something with this mop on my head!" Manako looked at me wide-eyed when I raised my voice. She sighed and motioned for me to come closer. I obeyed and inched just a tiny bit closer as to not invade her personal bubble.

"Um... Seizumi?"

"Yeah?" I looked down at Manako. I guess the height difference was the problem, since she reached up and pushed my head down to her level.

"You need a haircut." Manako mumbled, combing my hair to the side,. She'd accidentally hit my head with the comb every few seconds. It didn't really hurt, so I never complained. A few minutes later, and she was done. Satisfied with herself, Manako handed me my comb back. "S-Sorry if you look dumb. I tried my best..." The volume of her voice shrunk down with every word until I could barely hear her.

"Anything's better than nothing. Thanks." I smiled.

She didn't really smile back, but nodded in acknowledgement.

"Not to pry but... did you, perhaps..."

"Yes, I-I thought it over a lot last night..." Ah, so that was probably why she couldn't sleep?

"Don't tell me. I want you to surprise me," _Yeah, nice talking. She wasn't supposed to tell you in the first place, idiot!_ "I won't be mad even if you decided not to, so don't be worried about my feelings."

Manako looked a bit shocked over the last part. _Did she actually consider my feelings?_

"Well, I'm leaving. See you in the office."

I'm not sure if she watched me walk out or not, but I heard her mumble a few things on my way out. One sentence in particular stood out from the rest.

"I was right... he _is_ a scatterbrain."

* * *

I took my first step inside of Smith's office fifteen minutes before we were supposed to be there.

"Seizumi, what a surprise. You're early." Smith turned her chair around to face me.

"Hehe, yeah. The early bird gets the worm, after all." I put a fist over my chest.

"Of course. You should make that a habit, Seizumi."

"Y-Yes, a habit."

"I see you have your hair fixed. Quite a different approach from yesterday," Smith eyed my hair. "and it looks nicer."

"Thanks." I rubbed the back of my head, a little embarrassed.

"Yo, Kuroko!" Zombina trudged her way in the room, sitting down in a chair. Her hair was still wet, so her suit jacket was getting soaked. She looked back at me. "Yo, Sei. Ya beat me again, huh?"

"Looks that way. Why didn't you dry your hair?"

"Why didn't ya dry _yer_ hair?" She grinned.

"So **I** could comb my hair to the side." I don't think Manako would want me to discreetly tell everyone about that, so I lied a bit and said that I combed my hair.

"Well, ain't that nice," Zombina leaned back in the chair. "I fix my hair by lettin' it dry on its own."

"Oh." In truth, wet hair suits Zombina to a degree. Maybe if she wasn't wearing nice clothes, it would look better.

"Hi, guys!" Tio peeked in the room. "Hi, Bina, Hi, Sei!"

"Oh, so now I'm just classified with the crowd? Thanks, Tio." Smith grumbled, taking a sip of coffee. "Ugh, this coffee is gross. As soon as we get done here, I'm going straight to Darling's house."

"It is the Program's instant coffee, so yeah, it's gross." Zombina stuck her tongue out in distaste.

"I don't like coffee," I shook my head. "Too bitter."

"Well, that's too bad. It's the only drink provided by the Program... sucks to be you!" Smith gave me a cheesy grin.

"Are you fu-"

"I-I'm here!" Manako walked into the room carrying a briefcase. Why she has it, I don't know. "I thought I was going to be late, so I packed light."

Huh? Packed light?

"Oh, so you brought the smaller rifle?" Smith eyed the briefcase. "What about a scope?"

"A scope? Um... I don't own one." Manako pointed at her eye. "This is my scope."

"Nevermind, I forgot that I _kept_ all of the scopes that you tossed aside."

Manako looked down, ashamed that Smith had brought that up. So there's a gun in there? Really, the briefcase is a little small for a standard-sized rifle.

"I'm last, like always." Doppel finally decided to grace us with her presence.

"I guess we can start now," Smith looked at the clock on the wall. "and a few minutes early, too."

"I can smell the free time from here..." Zombina looked as if she was in heaven.

"Anyways... Manako?"

"Ah, y-yes!" Manako opened the briefcase and took out the parts needed to assemble a standard rifle. In just a few swift motions, she assembled the gun and sat it on Smith's desk. Smith attached the scope on the top, and voila.

"Seizumi," Smith took the rifle up in her arms. "this standard sniper rifle is what you'll be using for _us_ to assess your shooting capabilities. There's a target range outside that I'd like you to shoot at."

I took the gun from her and held it in my hands. It felt a bit small, but for someone like Manako, the original owner, it was a perfect fit for her. Manako took a box of bullets out of her pocket and handed them to me.

"This rifle reloads just like any rifle... I'm guessing you've loaded one before..?"

"Yeah, I have."

"T-That's good." Manako looked at Smith, who nodded.

"Well, let's see you shoot, hot shot."

Smith led all of us to the shooting range. We were standing on the building, and the targets were on the ground below us. They were minuscule, so much in fact, they looked like flies from here. I sat the rifle onto my shoulder and peered through the scope. The targets were now around the size of a bear.

"This shouldn't be a problem, right?" Smith tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"Y-Yep, no problemo!" I pointed the muzzle towards the center target and began to line up my shot. A few adjustments later and I was ready to shoot.

"Take your time. No need to-"

A swift pull of the trigger and the bullet came flying out. The sound echoed throughout the mostly empty space until the bullet went just a few inches over, missing the target. I found myself shaking a bit, which was normal for me.

"-rush." Smith eyed me as I lowered the gun from my shoulder. I couldn't help but grunt in sheer annoyance.

"Damn it, I misjudged the shot... again."

"Again? You mean that this is norm-"

"I watched him the entire time," Manako interrupted Smith mid sentence. "and I think... uh, Seizumi's posture is poor, so the bullet went an entirely different way than he anticipated..."

"Any other observations?"

"T-The recoil seemed to shake him up a bit..." Manako pointed at the target. "which also helped to divert the bullet away from the target."

"I see. Those problems are fixable," Smith pushed her sunglasses up her face. "and you should be able to fix them. Right, Manako?"

"Hold on. She didn't even say she was doing it, Smith." Doppel raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, but haven't her actions been quite normal for a-"

"Don't finish, I get the gist of it," Doppel looked at me with a normal expression (for once). "Congrats, kid."

"Uh... thanks?" Wait, what did she say that for? What were they talking about? I wasn't really paying attention... but I guess it's about something good.

"Y-Yeah, I decided last night that I would do it." Manako looked at me, her expression unreadable.

"Yay, Mana! Good for you!" Tio gave her monoeye friend a big hug.

"Huh? Do what?" I looked at everyone, puzzled.

"Ya weren't payin' attention, were ya Sei?" Zombina chuckled. "Mana just told ya that she'd mentor ya."

"That's probably why he looked at me funny," Doppel grinned. "Wasn't paying a lick of attention."

"T-Tio, can't breathe..." Manako beat her hands on Tio, who looked down and let go of her.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Mana!" Tio frowned.

"I-It's okay, just... need to... catch my breath." Manako took her time to catch her breath.

"No wonder she couldn't breathe! Tio is so-" Doppel began, but was cut off by Tio herself.

"Doppel, you know I'm very self-conscious about my height!" Uh, I don't think she was going to say _tall_...

"Yeah, yeah..." Doppel snickered.

"She wasn't talking 'bout your height, y'know." Zombina put a hand on Tio's shoulder.

"Huh?"

While I was lost in my thoughts, Manako tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"U-Um, Seizumi?"

"Yeah?" I turned around to look at her. Oh, and it looks like Tio and Zombina are... doing _something_.

"Y-You wouldn't mind if we talked about this later," She looked me in the eyes. "in private?"

"Wha-" I'm pretty sure that Manako said something really important before she said **in private** , so I nodded. "Sure thing."

"Tonight after dinner, I'll just go back with you to _your_ apartment..."

"I don't have a problem with that." I took out the extra bullets Manako gave me and held them in the palm of my hand. "Don't you want these back? And what abo-"

"Were you even listening earlier...?" She sighed.

"Yeah, starting at **in private**." Doppel patted me on the back. "I saw it in his eyes."

This caused Manako's face to turn a light red.

"N-No, it's not like that! I was so caught up in watching Tio and Zombina's funny-"

"Sure you were," Doppel smiled.

"I was!"

"C'mon guys, we're gonna go to Loverboy's and mooch some food from him again!" Zombina licked her lips.

"Yay!" Tio squealed in excitement.

"Uh, is he expecting us?" I crossed my arms. "I don't want to eat any more of Kimihito's food out of the blue..."

"We're coming over." Smith had her ear up to her cell phone. "...yes, all of us."

 _'Well, we're all going out to eat today... you can always come with us, though.'_

"Oh, yes, we'll go with you." She had a smile on her face.

 _'We're going to...'_

"...okay. See you then, Darling." Smith hung up and put her phone back in her pocket.

"What's the plan, Kuroko?" Zombina put her hands on her hips.

"We're eating out with Darling and the girls."

"Wha-"

"And Miyo, too."

"Man, I really wanted more steak..." Tio rubbed her stomach. "Whatever it is, I hope it's good food!"

"You'll find out what kind of food it is when we get there," Smith began to walk back inside. "Everyone, in the van."

Doppel, Zombina, and Tio went on ahead, while Manako stayed, disassembling the rifle and putting it back in the briefcase.

"Coming, Manako?"

"A-Ah, yes!" She closed the briefcase and picked it up.

I opened the door and held it for Manako.

"Thank you." She walked through.

"You know, if I wouldn't had stayed behind, I feel as if you would have just stayed here."

"Maybe," After I closed the door behind us, Manako handed me the scope to the rifle. "Y-You need it more than I do."

"Haha, yeah. Those targets looked like bugs without it."

The rest of the walk outside to the van was silent. Half the way there, she edged behind me a considerable amount and continued to walk, holding the briefcase as if it was a purse.

"It's about time, you two!" Tio motioned for Manako to sit in front of her, and she did. I resorted to sitting beside Doppel, because it looked like Zombina was ready to... eat something. Or _someone_. "I thought you'd never make it, and that we starve!"

"B-But we have food at home! We wouldn't starve..." Manako replied. "Besides, it-"

Yeah, I'm not listening to that conversation.

"You too, huh? You just tune out whatever you don't want to hear." Doppel had her arms sitting on the back of the seat.

"Selective hearing. It's a bad habit of mine."

"I can tell. Pfft, **in private**. Your expression was priceless."

"What happened to yo-"

"It was a bad day for me yesterday, alright? Forget about it. Besides," Doppel leaned in towards me. "don't you like this me better, Seizumi?"

I couldn't argue with that, so I just shut up.

"Ten minutes until we're there." Smith said.

Instead of staying awake, I chose to close my eyes and take a... small...

...nap.

"... out like a light, Seizumi." Doppel's voice was the last that I heard before fully falling out of consciousness.

* * *

Hooray, I'm done with this chapter.

A few butchered spots, like always. But I did have a bit of fun writing this chapter.

I hope you enjoyed!

-Author


	3. LM: LizardMen

Merry two days after Christmas! Here's a long-awaited chapter (for some). Enjoy!

* * *

[Doppel's POV]

Surprise, surprise... Seizumi's fast asleep... er, on my shoulder. He's drooling pretty bad, and that it makes me want to smack him awake. The only good thing is that I don't have to talk to him.

"Five minutes," Smith looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the situation I was in. "Isn't that cute, Doppel?"

"Shut up." I'm shocked that he fell asleep that fast, though. It takes Mana a good fifteen minutes to fall asleep in the van, but it only took a minute for Seizumi to-

 _ **SNORE**_.

Oh god, he's a snorer. Why, of all kinds of sleepers, did he have to be one of them?

"What was that?" Tio could hear him all the way in the back.

"I think that was Seizumi..." Mana turned her head from the window to look at me and Seizumi.

"Yeah, it was." Bina was turned around in her seat. "Yo, Sei! Ya need t-"

"Shhh, Bina! Don't wake him up!" Tio put a finger to her lip, leaning over the seat to get a closer look.

"Why not?" I spoke up. "Either that or one of you has to carry him out."

"I will!"

"What the hell, Tio?" Bina raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Why?"

"It's better than him waking up and being cranky or something like you, Bina..."

"Hey, that's only on early mornin's like this!"

"Yeah, but... I don't like it when you're mean!"

"I could care less whether or not you're cranky or not." I shrugged my shoulders, causing Seizumi's head to slide off onto my lap. "Okay, now I care."

"What happened? Where did Seizumi go?" Mana was probably looking out the window again, so she didn't notice where he- his head, I mean- went.

"Where do ya think? He's just sleepin' on Doppel's lap!" Bina pointed down at Seizumi. "I guess he thinks that she makes a better lap pillow than Tio."

"That's not nice, Bina..." Tio frowned, leaning over the seat even more.

"I bet he'd end up dyin' cause of-"

Suddenly, a sharp jerk of the van made Tio fall over the seat (where are the seat belts in here?), Bina fall backwards, and Mana hit her head off the window. Oh, and Seizumi fell on the floor, which was pretty funny.

"Asshole! Watch where you're going!" A man in the vehicle that just passed us honked his horn and flipped us off.

"Why don't you- ah, forget it." Smith rolled her eyes.

"Ow, my head..." Mana rubbed the top of her head.

"I think we need seat belts in here! That hurt..." Tio winced at the pain of hitting her face of the floorboard.

 **SNORE**.

"How tha hell is Sei still asleep?" Bina picked herself up and moved back a row of seats, sitting beside me.

"He's an oddball, all right." I grinned, watching Seizumi move around in his sleep.

"Say, why were ya bein' such a bitch to him yesterday?"

"...I wanted to make sure that he wasn't a total asshole. And, well, he's not. He never acted solely upon his own judgement, but on the impression that I gave him. I thought when I said that I wouldn't apologize to him, he would overreact and go off on me... but instead, he told me not to waste my breath if I didn't mean it."

"You were just worried for us, huh?" Bina put an arm around me. "Never thought I'd see tha day, Doppel."

"Yeah, yeah..." I slumped down in my seat.

"We're here, everyone. Behave yourselves, please~." Smith stepped out of the van.

"Yay! Where are we eating at?" Tio stood up, leaning down drastically so she didn't hit the top of the van with her head. "I'll take Sei with me!~"

"U-Um, Tio, what if he wakes up?" Mana fretted.

Completely ignoring Mana's comment, Tio slid her arms under Seizumi's back and lifted him up in her arms... or more like she sat him on her boobs and used her arms to keep him there.

"Mmm..." And of course, the sleeping Seizumi didn't complain. It was probably better than the hardass floorboard.

"See you inside!" Tio used her foot to open the door and walk outside.

"She had no idea how loud she was bein'... wouldn't be surprised if Sei wakes up 'n gets mad," Bina ran a hand through her hair to check how wet it was. Satisfied with the outcome, she smirked. "Let's go."

I poked Mana on her forehead, and immediately she squealed in surprise.

"You're not too into it today, are you, Mana?"

"I guess not..." She shook her head and picked up the briefcase sitting beside her.

"What, do you think that someone's gonna ambush us?" I pointed at her briefcase. "I doubt that they'll let you take that inside in the first place."

"It's very possible."

"Mana's just a big worrier!" Bina grinned. "Let's go in the restaurant!"

Me, Mana, and Bina got out of the van. Smith and Tio were still outside, probably waiting for Bae.

And of course, Seizumi was still asleep.

"Ah, there's Darling and the girls now." Smith waved in their general direction, getting their attention. Bae waved back, and that Miyo kid raised his head in acknowledgement.

"Hey, Sunglasses Lady." Miyo spoke up.

"That's a creative nickname, Ayase."

"I don't know your name, and Kimihito won't tell me. Soooo... I'm just going to call you Sunglasses Lady."

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his sheer stupidity.

"That's one for the books, Smith."

"Um, Tio? Why do you have Seizumi... in your..." Bae couldn't collect all the words to finish his sentence, so he stuttered a lot.

"Because he's sleeping, Boyfriend!" Tio furrowed her brow, raising her voice. "It wouldn't be nice if we woke him-"

 **COUGH**.

"Ugh..." Great, Tio and her excitement was too intense for Seizumi. "...are we there yet?"

"Yes, princess, we're here." I poked him on the nose.

"I'm no... princess..."

"This is all your fault, Boyfriend! You woke him up..." Tio looked down at Seizumi, who looked frightened and confused. "Hi, Sei! Did you have a nice nap?"

"W-What the hell?! Why am I in the air, and Tio, why is your face so close?!" He was nearly ready to hyperventilate.

"Oh. Oops, I forgot to sit you down." Tio sat Seizumi's feet on the ground. He rubbed his eyes and brushed his clothes off. His face is now colored a bright red.

"I told you it was a bad idea, Tio..." Mana held her briefcase in both of her hands.

"Well, he was gonna wake up eventually..." Tio whined.

Seizumi pat Tio's back in assurance.

"D-Don't worry about it... you were just trying to let me nap longer." He took his hand off her back.

"Sniff..."

"So, Darling, we're eating _here_?" Smith pointed at the building in front of us that read _Japan's Finest Buffet._

"Yeah. I've never been here before," Bae eyed the building. "but Miyo told me it's a pretty nice buffet."

"Sure is! I used to eat here every day... well, before my house went _pffft_." Miyo put his hands in his pocket.

"It's okay, Mayo! You'll get to eat again!" Papi gave Miyo a thumbs-up (as if her lone thumb wasn't already stuck in one already).

"...I'm not even going to tell you what is wrong with that sentence."

"There's nothing wrong with it, Papi! Don't listen to _Mayo_ ~..." I shot a look at Miyo, who had sweat dripping down his forehead. As expected from Suu, she used one of her feelers to suck up the moisture, also revealing a few of Miyo's more personal thoughts.

 **"** ** _I really want to knock some sense into Papi. I wonder if liminals even went to school? Ugh... oh, and Kimihito doesn't even try to correct her because he thinks it's so damn funny!_ " **Suu repeated the thoughts of Miyo, whose eyes widened ever so more after every word she spoke.

"I don't do that!" Bae shook his head frantically. "Okay, maybe sometimes I think it's funny!"

"Huh? What's school?" Papi tilted her head.

" **I knew it!** " Suu spat the words like venom.

"Suu, quit it!" Miyo tried to take Suu's feeler off his head. Noticing his struggle, Centorea managed to grab onto Suu's raincoat, pulling her off.

"Suu! Thou shouldn't do such things to Milord's kin!"

Suu's feeler turned into the shape of a question mark at the statement. I was laughing so hard that I had to use Mana's shoulder to support myself. I'm sure she didn't appreciate the gesture very much, but I didn't care. This was comedy gold, and it just smacked me in the face.

Wait, no. That was Centorea. She just smacked me in the face.

"Haha... ow," I rubbed my cheek, which was now stinging and burning red. "But really, that was comedy gold."

"Huh? Digging for gold?" Papi walked up to me and grabbed the hand currently placed on my cheek. "Were you picking your nose?"

A few seconds passed before I lost it. I began laughing again, shrugging my hand away from Papi and falling to my knees. A small amount of moisture came out of my eyes and onto my cheeks. I wasn't the only one laughing, thankfully. Smith held back on the laughter while Bae reacted the same way I did, except not so dramatically. Miia probably didn't understand the expression 'digging for gold', so she looked at Bae bewildered. Mero used her hand to cover her mouth as she giggled. Rachnera thought that all of us were idiots (mostly me, though).

I got back up, looking over at my squadmates. Seizumi was probably too flustered from Tio's actions that he wasn't paying attention, because he still had no idea what was happening. Tio had nothing but a smile on her face as she stood beside Seizumi. Mana looked like she didn't want to be here at the moment...

"Quit laughin' and let's go in!" Bina just wanted to eat. She held her gut as she walked up to the front of the building, kicking the door open.

"That's one way to make an entrance..." Seizumi sighed, putting a hand over his face. "I think I'm staying out here for a while."

"Have fun, Sei!" Tio waved back as she went inside, followed by everyone except me, Mana, and Mero.

"Why did you stay behind?" I floated over to Mero, who greeted me with a smile.

"Is it wrong to want to enjoy the fresh air for a while longer?" She adjusted her posture in her wheelchair so that she was sitting straight up.

"I... can't argue with that logic. I just thought you didn't want to go in with the crowd."

"Oh, no. I would have loved to went in with Dear Sir and everyone else. I just wanted to-"

"I get the point; sunlight is healthy." I squinted my eyes.

"I'm glad you see it that way, Doppel." Mero smiled.

I rolled my eyes, looking over at Seizumi. From the looks of it, he's trying to make small talk with Mana.

Maybe his endeavor is going well.

* * *

-Manako's POV-

"So, um... w-why did you stay out here again?"

I found myself acting extremely nervous around Seizumi. He didn't seem to notice my nervousness, however, because he was preoccupied with his own rambling.

"I didn't want to go inside while Zombina was acting like that. I mean, stuff like that's embarrassing. When I was a kid, my younger brother would always act up when we went out to eat. So much, in fact, that he made every meal seem like hell decided to haunt me. He's... seventeen now? Yeah, seventeen. He's probably glad I don't live in the house anymore. Oh, and did I mention my little sister? She's okay when she wants to be, but lately all she wants to do is 'be like her big brother Hyota'."

I observed how Seizumi's expressions changed during his rant. The topic of his brother made his eyes tense up a bit, while talking about his sister made him relax. Something tells me that he's not on good terms with his brother.

"I-Is that your younger brother's name?"

"Yeah. My little sister's name is Yui. She's only seven, but she acts like she's twenty." He chuckled a bit, looking at me with a grin that only he could pull off.

"Then you're the oldest." I quickly averted my eye from him and decided just to look down at my briefcase.

"I wish I wasn't. Maybe then I'd be spoiled like Yui."

We stood together for a minute in silence until Seizumi spoke again.

"So why did _you_ stay out here? I don't think it was because you wanted to listen to me ramble..."

"I had a feeling earlier that there was a group of liminals following us," I turned around and stared off into the distance, seeing a group of four liminals wearing biker jackets coming our way. But they weren't alone; behind them were two humans with trench coats on carrying shotguns on their backs. "and they still are. They're not alone."

"Huh?" Seizumi looked the direction I was facing, but to no avail, he saw nothing but a bunch of walking pedestrians. "What are you talking about?"

"I-I need you to go tell Smith. As quickly as you can," I immediately began to unpack the rifle and assemble it. I didn't watch to see if Seizumi had left to do what I had asked of him, instead loading the gun with one of the bullets he had given back to me earlier. "I'd better hurry up before they get here..."

I ran past Doppel on my way to the top of the restaurant building. She noticed the rifle in my hands and hurriedly started to wheel Mero back inside.

Attached to the side of the building, tucked away in an alley, were the stairs leading to the rooftop. I took hold of the side rail and ran as fast as I could up the stairs, nearly tripping over my own feet a couple of times. After just a short minute, I stepped on the rooftop and positioned myself to shoot.

I glanced down to see that Seizumi had done what I'd asked of him. Smith, Bina, Tio, and Doppel were all ready to put up some sort of a fight. Um... but I think Seizumi went somewhere else.

"Man, I need to hit the gym..." I heard his panting from the top of the stairs.

"W-Why are you up here?" I turned my head to face him, which probably wasn't such a good idea since the wind was blowing right in my eye.

"Smith told me I should watch you snipe to get a... what'd she say? Firsthand view? Yeah, something like that."

I blinked my eye a couple of times, turning back to keep watch of the suspiscious group. The two humans with the guns stopped, raising their guns towards a pair of unsuspecting passerbys. Before I could get a clear shot, they both threw their guns at the liminals, in which they caught them with ease. Now that I got a good look at them, the four liminals looked to be lizardfolk.

One of them twisted their body, making their tail whip around. His target was a nearby host and her homestay, a female tengu. They both got thrown against the wall of the nearby supermarket, the latter suffering far less damage.

"Oh, that's who you were talking about," Seizumi had snuck up beside me, trying to get the same view as me. "Yeah, their members of that dorky gang, LM, short for LizardMen. They just recently began to recruit human males into their gang to get more of an edge on the populace."

"I'm surprised you know so much."

"I may or may not be friends with a man they attempted to recruit..."

I took aim at the shotguns in the lizardfolks' hands and fired, shooting them in half.

"Holy crap, that was neat!" He observed the lizardfolk, who were in utter shock after their guns broke.

A blush formed on my face as I stood up, wiping the moisture from under my eye. It felt weird, having someone up here with me. B-But really, I felt more awkward than anything else!

"It's up to everyone else now." I shut my eye as the wind blew against my face.

"I'm going to see if they need any help."

I opened my eye back up and watched Seizumi until he began to make his way down the stairs. Hopefully, he can find a way to help.

"...this air really dries my eye out."

* * *

=Kuroko Smith=

I do not want to deal with the paperwork for this ordeal after it's settled. Can't a girl get a break? Obviously not, because the government keeps slamming forms on my desk, expecting them in an ungodly amount of time.

Oh, right. Let's get back to the issue at hand.

The human-liminal gang, known as LizardMen (seriously, nobody knows how to come up with catchy names anymore), decided that today was the day to send their lackeys on the streets. Previously armed with shotguns, the lizardfolk with human tagalongs are now in a state of panic.

"W-What the hell?! What happened to the shotguns?!"

"I-I don't know, it's like somebody shot them right out of our hands!"

"Tch. They shouldn't have sent us out on a retrieval mission in the first place."

"At least we have the girl..." The largest of the lizardfolk grabbed the human girl by the collar of her shirt. Her eyes widened as she was lifted off the ground.

Her tengu homestay picked herself off the ground and stretched her majestic black wings. She latched herself onto the lizardfolk man and put her arm around his neck in an attempt to choke him.

"Are we just gonna watch her fight?" Zombina stood beside me, holding her two submachine guns.

"Of course not. I'm just enjoying this extreme turnaround," I took out a tranquilizer gun out of my pocket. "Be prepared for anything."

Tio put on her metal helmet, and Doppel changed into an exact copy of the young girl currently held captive in the hands of the enemy. We all wanted to wait except for Zombina, who had her guns ready to fire at any moment.

"That's not very smart, Bina. That tengu girl is still latched onto him." Tio's voice was muffled by her helmet.

"Well, shit. I forgot about her." Zombina lowered her guns back down. "We have ta get her off him."

"Yeah, but how?"

The answer came running up behind us; Seizumi, our raven-haired hazel-eyed savior. Well, he's not really a savior, but he's just the man we need.

"I'm -huff- here to help..." He put his hands on his knees, panting. "Really, really, really need to go to the gym..."

"Seizumi, you're just the man I wanted to see..." I grinned, pushing my sunglasses up my face. "I need you to distract that tengu girl so we can deal with the lizardfolk."

"Huh? What am I supposed to do?"

"Get her off of him. Don't do anything to hurt her, though."

Seizumi shrugged and walked towards the lizardfolk. He slipped his hands in his pocket and acted as if he was just a mere passerby.

"Oh. I thought I was gonna get groceries today, but looks like it's closed." He glanced at the sign, implying that it was completely colorless instead of flashing **open**.

"Are you serious?" The two humans walked up beside him, pretending to read the sign.

"Not really." He flashed a smile before grabbing their heads and smashing them together. Tio was cheering for Seizumi the whole while, clapping quietly.

"Yay! Go Sei!"

"Shut up, Tio, or they'll find us out!" Doppel grabbed ahold of Tio's hands and held them so that she wouldn't clap.

"I'll add quick thinking to his list of skills." I mumbled.

"Hey! What the hell did you do that for, kid?!" The lizardfolk holding the girl instinctively dropped her on the ground, prompting the tengu to release her grip on him and tend to her host. "You little shit, you're gonna pay! We don't mess around with bitches like you!"

"Oh, that's too bad. The Interspecies Exchange Bill prevents any dangerous interactions between humans and liminals, and vice versa," Seizumi chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "You couldn't mess with me even if you tried."

I signaled for the girls to move in. Tio went in front, moving the two innocents out of harms' way. She took off her helmet and questioned them with a concerned tone.

"Are you two okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"I-I'm fine, but I swear that lizard did something to Miyako!" The tengu girl held on to the girl, whose name was now revealed to be Miyako, to dear life as she spoke. Her eyes were flooded with tears.

"I'm okay, Sylvie..." Miyako smiled and squeezed the tengu's hand in reassurance. "Really, it's just a cut."

"That cut could get infected. I'll go tell my boss so she can get help. You two stay here and I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" Tio stood up, her body blocking the sun for just a few seconds before she began to walk towards me.

"Wow... so cool..." Sylvie gawked.

"Smith, there's-"

"I heard everything. I'll have to call the emergency squad just in case it's more serious than she's letting it out to be," I pulled out my cell phone and began to dial the number. "What's her name?"

"Miyako. I don't know about her surname," Tio turned around. "I'm going to go back and stay with them until the squad comes."

"You do tha-" Before I could finish my sentence, a service girl answered my call.

 _'This is the emergency line.'_

"Yes, I know. I'm not dumb. This is Agent Kuroko Smith. Look, I have a teenage girl that was just harassed by a liminal, and I'd like a squad to come and check her out."

 _'Right awa-'_

"We're just a few blocks away from _Japan's Finest Buffet_. You can't miss us."

 _'Your squad has departed. Would you li-'_

"No, I would **not** like to stay on the phone to track the squad. Goodbye."

I ended my call with the service girl. Good riddance.

"Ya better give up, criminal scum!" Zombina had her guns pointed at the four lizardfolk. "If ya surrender now, we might let ya off easy!"

"Where'd that tengu go?... Doesn't matter, the girl's still here," The large one grabbed the girl (ahem, Doppel) again, this time using her as a body shield. "Don't shoot, or she's dead."

Doppel took her role quite seriously, faking the entire scared girl act until the lizardman got caught off guard. She'd managed to loosen her arm enough to uppercut him in the jaw. I wouldn't be surprised if it was dislocated.

"Foolish move, amateur," Doppel changed back into her humanoid form, revealing all of her glory, and quite literally, too. "Doppel had you fooled."

Doesn't she say that every time?

"Nice!" Zombina began to open fire, until she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Damn, I forgot that you can't shoot them with bullets!"

Four tranquilizer darts shot out of the sky and hit the four lizardfolk in the face (where there were no scales to protect them). Manako must've had a few tricks up her sleeves, or remembered that she'd packed the darts at the very last minute.

"It seems that our job is done, MON. Well, for you guys anyways. More paperwork for me to fill out..." I grumbled as I heard the squad pull in. Sylvie helped her host to her feet, and Tio walked her over to sit on the back.

"Does anything hurt, ma'am?" A male paramedic stood behind Miuako.

"J-Just the back of my neck... he scraped it with his claws when he picked me up."

"A non-human, huh..." He took an alchohol wipe out of a container and rubbed the site of the cut. "Yeah, this definitely would've got infected."

"Well, it's good that you got to it fast!" Tio smiled.

"Thank you, mister... I have no idea how to treat wounds." Sylvie flapped her wings in joy.

"She's your host, then?" The man stuck a long adhesive bandage on the cut.

"Mhm... the best host that I've ever had." She sat up on the back of the ambulance with Miyako, grabbing onto her arm.

"I'm glad we found you the perfect host, Sylvie. If only other cases worked the same, maybe I wouldn't have so much paperwork..." I managed to hide my frustration with a smile. "but at least your case has fruition."

"Yo, Kuroko! What'dya want me to do with these guys?" Zombina gestured to the passed-out lizardfolk and their human counterparts.

"Take them to headquarters. I trust you can dri-"

"Hell yeah, I'll drive! Sei, get your ass in the van and come with me!"

"Fine..." He grumbled, picking up the smallest lizardman and throwing him over his shoulders.

"Let me help you, Sei!"

"S-Sorry I'm late!" Manako came running, briefcase in hand. "I had to tell Kurusu what happened..."

"Welcome to the club, Mana! You can come with us, too!" Zombina put an arm around Manako's neck. "Unless yer uncomfortable bein' around Sei."

"I'm not that uncomfortable around him... okay, maybe a lot."

"Good!" Zombina basically dragged Manako into the van with her. Seizumi, with a little help from Tio, had just finished moving the bodies into the back of the van.

"Thanks for the help, Tio." Seizumi slammed the van doors shut.

"No biggie!" Tio tugged a bit at her black tie. "Although this tie is starting to choke me..."

"Yeah, same. Well, I guess I'll see you, Smith, and Doppel back for dinner."

"Yep!" Tio walked away, turning her head to flash a smile. "Good job today."

Seizumi hopped in the van and rode off with Zombina and Manako. God, help him.

By the time that their conversation was over, the squad of one had already left. Miyako and Sylvia were chatting up with Doppel.

"You know, if it wasn't for your weird eye color, I could've pulled off your look perfectly."

"They're just silver. Nothing too special." Miyako twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers.

"Ooh, but they're way prettier than my red ones!" Sylvie blinked her eyes.

"Uh... yeah, eyes..." Doppel blinked her eyes, too.

"Doppel, we're going to go finish our meal with Darling." I motioned her to come over.

"Aw, can they come too?" Tio made puppy-dog eyes at me. I will not fall victim to them, I will not fall victim... oh, fine.

"Yes, they can come too..." I sighed, giving in.

"Go where?" Miyako asked.

"To _Japan's Finest Buffet_ , duh!" Tio grabbed her new friends into a brief hug before walking ahead. "Just a few blocks of walking!"

"I love that place!"

"What does it have?" Sylvie wore a perplexed look on her face.

"Well, for starters, it-"

A boring conversation for another day.

"I wonder how Seizumi's faring, especially with Bina under the wheel." Doppel floated up beside me.

"Only time can tell. If he's lucky, he won't puke. Manako is completely immune to Zombina's driving now that she's used to it... I think."

"But what about the criminals?"

...oh, shit.

"...maybe they won't wake up when she hits a curve?" I rubbed my temples.

I probably shouldn't have let Zombina drive.

* * *

I guess you can see what the next chapter will partially be about.

So Sei has siblings? Imagine that. Maybe we'll meet them in the future. Ah, who am I kidding, we will meet them later. Manako's not the only one with people problems!~

Miyako and Sylvie might seem worthless to the story right now since they're not really developed at this point, but they will have -character development- in future chapters.

Oh, and Smith's phone call for an ambulance was basically how I feel about telemarketers. Even if a 911 call is **nothing** like a telemarketer.

It took a bit longer to write this chapter because Christmas happened, but I made up for it in detail. Hopefully you enjoyed it.

As usual, my portrayals were probably off. I did my best...

...or did I?

Hahaha! Until the next chapter!

-Author

Edited Jan 5, 2018

I noticed a certain name that reminded me too much of... someone else. A few minor touch-ups.


	4. Zombina is a Bad Driver

•Zombina's POV•

I love drivin' around! Sometimes I feel like my heart'll beat again when I drive really fast.

"ZOMBINA, YOU'RE GOING FIFTY IN A THIRTY-FIVE KILOMETER PER HOUR ZONE!" Sei was yellin' in my ear for no reason. I mean really, who listens to those stupid signs anyways?

"Relax, Sei! I do this _all_ the time." I kept one hand on the steering wheel and used my other hand to punch Sei on the shoulder.

"WHAT?! HAVEN'T YOU GOT PULLED OVER FOR THIS SHIT YET?!"

"...nope! As long as yer in a vehicle like this, the police just thinks yer on some important mission. That's why they never pull me over!"

"That is complete bull." He crossed his arms and slumped down in his seat. "I've gotten a freakin' ticket for going twenty-six in a twenty-five, and here you are...hmph."

"Mana, you doin' okay back there?" I looked in the rear view mirror at Mana, who wouldn't take her eye off the criminals. I thought she was gonna throw up because she covered her mouth with her hand. "Ya need me ta send Sei ba-"

"N-No! I'm fine!" She jumped at the mention of Sei's name. Ya'd think the girl would at least be comfortable with her little protege, but she's just as scared of 'im as she is of Loverboy. Hell, maybe even worse than that.

"M'kay, just checkin' on ya." I put my eyes back on the road.

"I think I should be the one driving. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like my life is in danger!" Sei started flappin' his arms every which way. That kinda shit ticks me off.

"Can it, and quit flappin' your arms around like a bird!"

"Grr, I'm calling Smith and asking her why SHE'S ENDANGERING MY LIFE!"

"Seizumi- urk..." Mana swallowed, trying to hold her puke back. "t-talk quieter or you'll end up arousing **them**..." Her voice was just a little squeak compared to Sei's rant. He'd already pulled up Kuroko's contact on his phone and pushed it, tapping his fingers on the dashboard in anger.

I shouldn't have brought him with us. Who knew that he would be so damn annoying?

"Smith, why the **hell** did you let me go with Zombina?" There was a tone of annoyance in Sei's voice.

' _Sorry! I forgot to tell you about her reckless driving!_ ' Kuroko laughed from the other end.

"Yeah, more like reckless endangerment! That's the kind of shit that the police are supposed to prevent, not go ' _oh, they're in a government vehicle, so it's okay_ '!"

' _Look, we're finishing our meal with Darling right now-_ '

"What!? That's not fair!" I yelled.

"B-Bina, don't yell!" Mana looked into the rear view mirror at me with a scowl on her face. She'd found a bucket back there somewhere and placed it in front of her.

' _As I was saying-_ '

' _Is that Sei on the phone?! Hi, Sei!_ ' Kuroko probably had her phone's speaker turned on too since Tio said something.

"Uh... hi Tio." Sei responded.

' _You'll never guess what they have here!_ '

' _Tio, give me back my phone!_ ' I could hear Kuroko yelling at Tio. Then the call cut off entirely.

"...do you think she broke her phone?" Sei stared at his phone that was flashing **call ended** on the screen.

"Yeah. She's done it dozens of times by accident, and this was one of those times. Her strength got the best of her!" I laughed, slamming my hand on the car horn. "Oh, we're here."

"Oh thank GOD we're here..." Sei immediately jumped out of the passenger's side and made his way to the back of the van, opening the door to see the still unconscious criminals. "You're so lucky they didn't wake to due to your driving."

"Say that ta Mana. She falls asleep all the time when I'm drivin'!"

"I don't fall asleep! I just... take naps!" Mana gave a reassuring face. The face of a liar. "I-I think I might get sick..."

"Tell that to that time you slept on the way to Loverboy's house! She slept like a baby, Sei!" I took the key out of the ignition, turning the van off. "W-Wait, your actually gonna get sick?"

"I think I just need to sit down for a while." She opened the door and hopped out of the van.

"Okay. Don't hesitate ta say somethin' if ya think it's serious." Hopping out of the van, I watched Sei walk to the back, staring at the unconscious cri-liminals and their cohorts. I wasn't paying attention when Mana poked me on the shoulder, and I have to admit that it scared me quite a bit.

"And Bina..."

"Yeah, what is it?" I turned back to face Mana.

"D-Don't tell him things like that. You might give him ideas..." She assembled her rifle for the third time today, eying Sei the whole time. She then sat down on a bench in front of the building.

"Ideas for what? I wasn't paying attention in the first place," Sei drug the first human out and slung him over his shoulders. "Shouldn't we have brought Tio, too?"

"Nah. You got this!" I smacked him on the back, which caused the stitches holding my hand in to come loose. "Oh, shit."

"I think you need that." Sei grinned as he walked inside, body in tow.

"Smartass," I picked my hand off the pavement and stuck it in my pocket. "And not just in the snarky way, either. Really, I think he's more than capable of self-defense, so if this whole sniping thing turns out to be a blow, he's got that goin' for him..."

"A blow?" Mana's eye twitched a bit.

"It all depends on you, Mana," I pointed at her with my still attached hand. "You've gotta show him how ta do it right."

She stared at me silently for a few seconds before giving a tiny nod.

"Okay, let's stop talkin' 'bout it. Ya look like yer gonna cry."

"I-I am not... besides, I have to show Seizumi where to go..."

"Are you sure yer okay now? Ya still look a bit pale."

"I'm... fine." Mana looked away from me and walked inside, rifle in tow.

"All alone, outside... with five assholes." I grunted, impatiently tapping my foot for Sei and Mana to come back.

And then my cell phone rang. The caller ID read Loverboy, so I'm guessin' Kuroko got ahold of his phone to call me.

"Yo."

' _Hi, Bina! Is Sei ther-_ '

"What the hell, Tio!" I squinted my eyes when I heard the voice of Tio coming from the phone. "Why did ya call me?"

' _Because Boyfriend doesn't have Sei's number, and I wasn't done talking to him!_ '

"Why didn't you call him on your phone?!"

' _...Smith took my phone since I broke hers..._ ' She sniffles. ' _But that's besides the point! Let me talk to Sei!_ '

"Are you kiddin' me? He's busy luggin' the bodies inside right now, so yer gonna have ya wait a while," I went ahead and sat on a nearby bench. "And who says that you were talkin' to Sei, too? He called Smith, not-"

"-you." Sei had grabbed onto my shoulders, scaring the shit out of me.

"HOLY SHIT!" I dropped my phone on the ground. It didn't crack, thankfully... "Asshole, what was that for?!"

I turned around to look at him, but he'd already moved in front of me and grabbed my phone. Instead, I saw Mana giggling at my inevitable fright.

"Hey Tio, your **boyfriend** has my phone!" I chuckled.

' _He is not my boyfriend!_ ' Tio pouted.

' _Wow, Tio has a boyfriend... I need one too!_ ' The tengu girl, Sylvie, spoke up.

' _No you don't..._ ' Miyako spoke with a hint of annoyance.

"She's not my girlfriend, Zombina!" Sei glared at me.

"Ooh, so scared." I held my detatched hand up and grinned.

"B-Bina, don't you think you're going too far?" Mana's eye darted left and right before settling on my face..

"Relax. Sei, gimme my phone back and finish takin' those assholes inside. Make sure they're in separate parts of the building."

' _I knew I should've come to help him! Bina, you're making him do all the dirty work..._ ' Tio said. " _And Sei, don't listen to her when-_ "

Sei threw my phone back before he got nagged at even more. There was also a wallet taped to the back.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going," He flipped his hand nonchalantly. "That wallet might come in handy, Zombina."

' _Hey, pay attention to me! When Bina tells you to-_ '

"Bye. See ya later." I hung up on Tio. What she was gonna say, I dunno. But she was bein' a pain in the ass.

Mana and Sei went back to what they were doin' before. While they did that, I decided to take it upon myself to go inside to monitor the criminal already inside.

There's a special section inside the building where ya go to question them. Since you can only take one criminal at a time in for questioning, you usually only have one or two in a given cell at a certain time. It reminds me of prison, but the cells are actually nice inside in comparison to the huge correctional facilities.

I approached the cell where the now conscious man was sitting up and surveying his surroundings. As soon as he saw me, his hands tensed up into a fist.

"What the hell do you want?" He growled.

"Yer comin' me as soon as my squadmates get back." I leaned against the wall.

"You think I'm gonna tell you and your little friends anything?"

"Oh, you will," I took the wallet that Sei'd confiscated from him out of my pocket. I read the name his driver's license aloud. "Hyotara Shimuzu."

Instinctively he reached in his pocket for his wallet, but no luck.

"Give me my wallet back, bitch." Hyotara edged closer to the bars on the door.

"Oh, this?" I held up his wallet. "Ya know, you've got a bunch of money in yer wallet right now. Wonder how ya got it."

"That's plain simple. We'd just got done stealin' shit from a convenience store. We took the money from the owner and met up with Larso and his crew."

"Oh really? No wonder they didn't call us in..." I grumbled, standing up straight. "Lemmie guess, that's yer boss or somethin', right?"

"I ain't telling you nothin'."

"All done," Sei walked up beside me along with Mana. "Oh, look who it is. Hyotara Shimuzu."

"I don't know ya, kid," Hyotara spat.

"No freaking duh. I read your license."

"I-Is he ready for questioning, Bina?" Mana bumped her shoulder on my arm.

"He's already given us 'nough information. I think we'll just send 'em all to tha' correctional facility... except for Larso."

"Aw, shit, I shoulda kept my mouth shut..." Hyotara covered his face with his hands and sighed.

"Go get tha' big lizard and bring 'em in the interrogation room."

* * *

~Tio's POV~

Bina is so mean! She just hung up on me!

I handed Boyfriend his phone back and crossed my arms, infuriated.

"I hope Bina never talks to me again! Ugh!"

"I-It's okay, Tio. Maybe you can settle it out later." Boyfriend checked his phone one more time before putting it in his pocket.

"If anyone is going to apologize, it's going to be her!" I started to stuff my face with food that was sitting on the plate in front of me.

"Food isn't the solution to the world's problems, Tionishia..." Miyako rubbed the back of her head. "Try-"

"I told you earlier to call me Tio!"

"...okay, **Tio** , try actually solving your problems instead of using food as a substitute. That's very unhealthy, you know."

"I'm perfectly fine the way I am." I swallowed the food in my mouth, eying the dessert section of the buffet. I really do want more food, but what if Miyako was right?

...oh, I can't resist dessert!

While I went to pick out a few dessert items, Mero was having quite the conversation with Miyo.

"The fire that enveloped your house, Mister Miyo... do you have any idea what caused it?"

"Not a clue," He rested his chin on his hands. "I believe that it was an arsonist, if anyone."

"Oh... do you consider the fire a _tragic occurrence_?" Mero placed her hand on her cheek.

"A tragic occurrence...? The thought never rose in my mind. I lost a lot of things that were really personal to me, so-"

"Then it _is_ tragic! How lovely!" She cupped her cheeks in her webbed hands, delighted by the thought.

Miyo looked at Mero with a puzzled expression.

"She has her **tragedy addict** moments," Miia elbowed Miyo. "Mero can turn anything into a tragic situation in her head..."

"I-I am only _partially_ a tragedy addict!" Mero put a webbed hand on her chest, full of herself. "In fact, I don't think that Mister Miyo's situation is tragic at all!"

Persperation ran down her face because of the looks both Miyo and Miia gave her in response to her last statement.

"Ehehe..."

I sat back down in my seat, eager to indulge in sweets.

"So, Tio..." Doppel leaned in closer to me, grinning. "I heard that you-"

"I don't have a boyfriend!" I sighed exasperatedly. "Gosh, Doppel, who did you hear that from?"

"Well, I was going to say that I heard you got your phone 'confiscated', but that works just as well."

"You're funny. That's why I'm **not** letting you ask me about it!~" I began stuffing my face (again) with a nice pecan pie. And yes, I meant pie, not slice of pie.

"That's not any fun..." Grumbling, she rolled her eyes.

"Ahh, I'm stuffed, Darling!" Smith leaned back in her seat and put a hand on her stomach. "This really is _Japan's finest buffet_..."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Miss Smith..." Boyfriend rubbed the back of his head. "although I think you're being sarcastic."

"Don't forget about our - ahem - _previous engagement_ tomorrow." Smith rubbed her temples and whispered something to Boyfriend.

"Wait, what?"

"Nevermind. Just go where I said to go tomorrow," She looked at me and Doppel. "I think we'd best be on our way, Darling. A long heap of paperwork to fill out before tomorrow..."

"Excuse me, Miss Smith?" Miyako raised her hand sheepishly, stopping just above her shoulder.

"Oh, I suppose we should t- damn it, I forgot that Zombina took the van." Smith slammed her hand on the table.

"It's fine, really. My house is just a few blocks away... if you wouldn't mind walking me and Sylvie there."

"Of course. It's the least that we could do for you."

"Ooh, is Tio coming too?" Sylvie latched onto my back as I stood up, pushing the chair into the table

"I kinda have to go with Smith, Sylvie..."

"Hey Tio," Doppel floated in front of me and sat on the chair. Since she's as light as a feather, the chair didn't budge. "do you need an official fan club now?"

"Fan club? What do you..." I turned my head to the right and looked at my shoulder to see Sylvie's head sitting there. Her eyes were filled with... determination? Admiration? I think it's a combination of the two. She must have a high opinion of me because I helped her and Miyako out...

"Yeah, you definitely need one now." Doppel snickered.

"Okay, quit fantasizing about the future, Doppel. We're leaving." Smith wiped her forehead and smiled at Doppel. She slid her body off the chair and floated behind Smith as they walked out.

"...did she even pay, Tio?" Miyako watched them walk out the entrance.

"Probably not. She usually never does anything aside from mooching from Boyfriend and slamming her paperwork on us out of the blue," I took out a wallet that looked small compared to my hand. Opening it, I slipped out my MON identification card. "I guess we're using the Program's funds. Again."

"Isn't that abusing the system, though?"

"Not if they don't know about it! Thank goodness they never look over their bank statement thoroughly, or else they'd see everything else we've wasted it on..." I showed the cashier my card. She knew instantly who to charge the meal for, so she gave me the reciept in no time flat. I stuffed it in my pocket and continue doing to talk. "I mean, we have our own funding as MON, but we don't spend it on frivolous things like this."

"So it's like borrowing?" Sylvie spoke directly into my ear, scaring me half to death.

"N-Not really, since we never pay it back. I bet we've spent around ten thousand yen just this month alone... and it's not even halfway over yet!" I opened the door and walked outside, taking in the fresh air. We then started to walk the few blocks to Miyako's house.

"Wow... that's more than Miyako gets in a week's paycheck at her part-time job!"

"Don't flaunt that kind of information, Sylvie!" Miyako glared at her.

"You know that the Program will reimburse you for groceries and the sort, right? All you have to do is keep your cash receipts as proof of purchase and fill out a form." We turned the corner and saw her house in the distance (At least I think so. Smith and Doppel were standing in front of a grey double-wide).

"WHAT?! Why the heck didn't Miss Smith tell me about that when I got Sylvie?! I could have more than enough to pay for all the house expenses!"

"Um... they can also reimburse you for that, too."

Miyako stared at me as if I said something terrible.

"Thousands and thousands of yen..." She ran her hands through her hair. "Hahaha..."

"N-No need to look so gloom, Miyako! Look, Smith and Doppel are standing in front of your house, right?" I attempted my best to reassure her, but all I did was fuel a fire in her gut. She walked up to Smith and demanded answers to the statements I had just dumped on her. Quite taken aback, Smith could do nothing but grimace. So she did forget to tell her about that!

"Can I really get reimbursed for my groceries? And what about the house expenses?"

"Y-Yes...?" Smith had so much sweat on her face that you could probably fill a glass full of it! It's not advisable to drink it, though.

"I want the paperwork so that I can fill it out! I need that money!" Miyako practically begged on her knees for Smith to give her those forms.

"I don't have any with me, Miyako. And Doppel, stop giving me that look you always give me when you think I'm lying," Smith jerked her head to the side to look at Doppel, who had a cheeky smile on her face. "I'll be busy tomorrow, but you can still come by the office in the morning. I'm sure that either Manako or Seizumi can provide you with the forms."

"Oh, yeah. Mana's starting her 'tutoring' sessions with Seizumi tomorrow morning, right?" Doppel asked.

"Yes, and they'll be in the office building for most of the morning to work on fixing his **godawful** impatience with firing a rifle. Even **I** wasn't that bad the first time I shot one, and he's been dealing with firearms since he was a teenager."

"So, tomorrow morning?" Miyako took her house keys out and unlocked the front door to her house. "I'll be sure to stop by before I run a few errands. Oh and thank you for walking us home. Sylvie, come on."

"I dun wanna..." Sylvie was still latched to me like a leech, her sharp nails digging into my suit coat. "Why can't Tio stay?"

"Tio has to work, just like I have to. Of course, I work at the flower shop and she works at MON."

"H-Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'll come over sometime and visit you!" I rubbed the top of the tengu girl's head and smiled. "But you have to wait until then."

"...okay." She released her grip on me and stood in front of the door. Both her and Miyako waved goodbye. "Bye, Tio! Oh, Miss Smith and Doppel, too."

They promptly went inside Miyako's house, but Sylvie still stared out the window.

"...yeah, you need a fan club. Sylvie would be your first member!" Doppel stood in front of me with all of her naked glory.

"I agree, but the name should be switched from the Tio Fanclub to-"

"No way! I don't need a fan club in the first place!" I quickly interrupted Smith before she could finish her sentence.

"Then maybe a _Seizumi_ fan club?" She put a finger to her lip and smiled.

"Hell no," Thank goodness Doppel said something before I did. "I think I'd rather stick with **no club**."

"If that's how we feel, we'll stick to _**no club**_."

"Agreed." I nodded.

"Let's go back to the office!" Smith stretched her arms and yawned. "I'm sure I need to start on that paperwork."

More like **_we_** need to start on the paperwork...

* * *

|Seizumi's POV|

I'm sure you don't want to hear the never-ending tale about how the five members of MON spent their afternoon filling out paperwork from today's fiasco, but I can tell you the gist of what we learned about LM...

We never managed to get Larso to tell us any extremely useful information, even as Manako held him at gun point for a majority of the interrogation. All we know is that we have successfully caught one of the many captains. The leader, however, is still roaming around somewhere in Japan. Let's just hope he doesn't send all his lackeys to Tokyo...

Back in the present, Manako and I are sitting across from each other in my room. It's currently dark outside, and you can faintly make out the outline of the moon underneath the clouds. Just a few days until the full moon, and from what I've read in those books Smith gave me, it's not good to be around any liminal during said event.

But, you know what? I can't really see Manako being affected by it that much. She's probably too introverted to actually... never mind.

"Seizumi? Are you paying attention?" I jolted to attention when I heard the sound of Manako's voice.

"Uh-huh, I am!" I bobbed my head up and down quickly, my eyes still fixated on the bright beauty (the moon, duh).

"...oh, you're focusing on the moon." She stared out my window and gazed at the sky.

"Yeah. The moon is beautiful when there's not clouds blocking it, but even more beautiful when there is. It's more realistic that way."

"I-I see."

"So, what were you saying before, Manako?" I quickly snapped her back into reality.

"R-Right," She looked back at me, sitting stiffly in the chair. "Tomorrow morning at seven. That's when... um, when we'll be having your first session. I can't really give you a set schedule for any more of them, since you never know when we'll be busy with missions..."

"Seven in the morning? God, that's early..." I gazed over at my own alarm clock, which read twenty-one-fifteen (nine-fifteen).

"Well, I could have scheduled it later in the evening if we didn't already have something to do tomorrow afternoon."

"What do we have to do tomorrow?"

"Apprently Kurusu received a death threat in the mail earlier this week, and Smith wants to try and draw out the culprit. All five of us will be going with her tomorrow, secretly of course, in case **D** shows up." Manako stressed the letter **D** , which must be the pseudonym they're going by.

"So, **D**... we don't even know the culprit's name," I pounded my fist on my other hand. "That could stand for anything!"

"T-That's why we're trying to catch them."

"True," I eyed Manako, who still donned her uniform top and skirt. "Why didn't you change clothes when we got back to the apartment complex?"

"I can't give you a reason why." She folded her hands and sat them in her lap, looking down intently.

There was a tiny part of me and Zombina's conversation that hasn't been discussed between me and her since yesterday, although I feel as if it was hinted at earlier today... plus it's very applicable in this situation.

 _"Sei," Zombina had her eyes set on me, completely focused and serious in every way. "I need you to promise me somethin'."_

 _"Eh? Promise you what?"_

 _"This might sound a little funny, but... please, whatever ya do, don't do nothin' that'll push Mana too far."_

 _"Push her too far?" I asked. "What do you-"_

 _"Look, she's really damn sensitive. She'll get depressed about almost anythin' that stresses her out, or even just being in a predicament she don't like," She stared daggers at me, as if she was digging through my soul. "Promise me that you'll try yer best not to do somethin' stupid."_

 _"...yeah, I can do that. I promise," Zombina looked away from me and back out the windshield. But wait... "What if I do something that upsets Manako by accident?"_

 _"Well, guess it'll be fine, then." She gave me a toothy grin._

 _"But knowing me... I'm really good at messing things up. If I had some superpower, it'd probably be the power to make shit hit the fan anytime I want. Oh, and I'd probably get that superpower only because it was heredita-"_

 _"If anything, you'll actually make Mana pee her pants because of your yappin'," Zombina chuckled a bit. "But in all seriousness, in all tha' time that I've known 'er, this is one of tha' biggest things she's agreed ta do. I'm not even sure that she's capable of stayin' around ya long enough ta help ya with yer shootin'. Only people she's comfortable with is me and tha' girls,"_

 _She paused for a moment, briefly looking at the sleeping Manako before continuing._

 _"All the men that work with Kuroko... heck, everyone that works with 'er. They're scared ta death of 'er because of 'er single eye. 'fraid of makin' eye contact with 'er when they converse. I say ta Hell with 'em. But you, Sei," Another pause. "...yer not afraid. Ya looked 'er straight in the eye today. It spooked Mana, but you've got guts. I'm glad that Smith hired ya on in that aspect."_

 _"I..." I really had no idea what to say to Zombina. Actually, I was trying to hold back tears. God, I'm a softie... "I'll keep that promise no matter what. You can count on me, Zombina."_

 _"Glad ta hear that, Sei. Remember, we gotta be in Kuroko's off-"_

Oh, that's when I stopped listening to what she was trying to say to me.

"That's fine. You don't have to tell me anything."

Manako looked up at me in surprise, but not the whole 'you're just trying to guilt trip me into saying why' look, but a look that said 'I can't believe you just said that to me'.

"What's that look for?" I gave her the same look in return, and to **my** surprise, she actually giggled. Man, that makes two times today. I must be really funny if I can make a girl laugh twice in one day...

...wait, what the hell am I saying?

"I-It's just that Tio and Bina usually force an answer out of me. I was just... surprised that you didn't, is all," Manako rubbed her eye. "Ugh, itchy... I have to go apply my eye medication."

She stood up from the chair and looked down at me. That kind of reminds me of the hair troubles I had yesterday... but now I'm the one that has to look up.

"Seven, at the far end of the office building. I'll be testing your patience, Seizumi."

I nodded, looking her straight in the eye. Before I knew it, she'd looked away from me, blushing and mumbling a few words that were inaudible to me. I didn't say anything to her until she placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Thanks, Manako. For doing this."

Manako looked back at me for a second, then looked down at the doorknob.

"I mean... a job's a job, but you're welcome," She opened the door. "Good night, Seizumi."

"Yeah. G'night, Manako."

She walked out of my room, closing the door behind her. I picked up my alarm clock and set it to go off at five.

But isn't that too early? Tio said something about Manako waking up early... or did she say something else? I don't remember...

I turned all the lights off and slipped under the covers on my bed.

Tomorrow, it begins.

* * *

As you can see... tada, we're following the manga plotline starting next chapter.

I decided to start at the point where ' **D** ' writes the two letters to Kimihito because I really want to play around with both Miyo and Seizumi's emotions. I would tell you my plans, but then it wouldn't be a surprise! Miyako and Sylvie will of course make small cameos every once in a while, but... ack, more spoilers.

So now the fun begins... I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter!

-Author


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